. Ugly Corners Made Beautiful by
J. R. Miller Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, Philippians 4.8. Beauty is another
quality of true manliness, It is not enough for a man to be
true, to live honorably, to be just, to be pure and clean. He must also have in his life
whatever is lovely. All God's works are beautiful.
He never made anything that was not beautiful. It is sin which
spoils everything. There are many lives that are
not lovely in every feature. You see things in others which
you cannot admire, things which are not beautiful. Fretting is
not beautiful. Bad temper is unlovely. Discontent, jealousy, irritability,
unkindness, selfishness are all unattractive. It is the work
of God's grace to make lives beautiful. All that grace does
in us is towards the fashioning of beautiful Christian character
in us. On a florist's signboard are
the words, Ugly Corners Made Beautiful. The florist had reference
to what he could do to beautify an ugly spot or a piece of landscape. He would trim out the weeds,
plant flowers and shrubs, and transform a wilderness into a
garden. That is what grace can do in
our lives. Some men seem to think that the
fine and graceful things are only for women, not for men. But Christ was a man, a perfect,
complete man, and there was not a single unlovely thing in His
life. He was strong, but also gentle. He was just, but kindly. He was firm, but patient. He was righteous, and his indignation
burnt like fire against all hypocrisy and injustice. But his tenderness
never failed. Fine manliness is beautiful,
like Christ. Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this
is my friend. Song of Songs 516